Floating Village within a Metropolis 繁華都市中的水鄉風情

Floating Village within a Metropolis

Start functioning since 1883, the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is the oldest among the many typhoon shelters in Hong Kong, It used to be the most colourful and lively hub of floating restaurants at night, serving delicious seafood and fishermen-style congee (rice porridge) prepared by the fishermen at their "kitchens-on-the-sea", accompanied by the songs performed on tiny floating stages.

After several large-scale reclamations and the construction of the Island Eastern Corridor, the size of the Typhoon Shelter shrinked considerably, and so was the floating restaurant business. Still, its unique waterfront landscape and atmosphere of a floating village within a metropolis somehow manages to linger on.

However, the recent draft Wan Chai North Outline Zoning Plan has proposed a further 2-hectare reclamation along the waterfront for a Harbour Park, which would permanently change the face of the waterfront landscape. Although the Harbour Park proposal was later removed from the OZP, the proposed Central-Wan Chai Bypass and the Island Eastern Corridor Link still require "adequate extent" of reclamation within the typhoon shelter, not to mention the addition of a artificial sandy beach.

In any case, the unique waterfront landscape of the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter will be lost permanently.


繁華都市中的水鄉風情
香港多個避風塘中，銅鑼灣避風塘歷史最久，建成於1883年，也最有情調，這裡曾是十分熱鬧和特色的水上浮動餐廳，艇家在海上廚房即時炮製海鮮美食和艇仔粥，顧客亦可以隨興點唱小曲。經過幾次大規模填海，又修築了東區走廊，避風塘越縮越小，夜遊船河亦日漸衰微，但銅鑼灣避風塘仍具繁華都市中難覓的水鄉風情。

灣仔北分區計劃大綱打算在銅鑼灣避風塘防波堤向外填海2公頃建「 海心公園」，避風塘風貌將被改變，雖然海心公園最終被刪除，但計劃中的中環灣仔繞道連接東區走廊，仍需在避風塘內灣作「適量」填海，甚至有人工海灘。

無論如何，銅鑼灣避風塘的原本風貌，都將會被改變。